Age Of Pericles Research Paper

Approximately 2500 years ago a series of changes and reformations in political thought led to the creation of the ancient Athenian democracy. Through the changes implemented by Solon and Cleisthenes during the Golden Age of Greece, democracy was born in Athens. Although it was somewhat impractical, exclusionist, and only open to a very small percentage of the total Athenian population, its impact is still felt today. Athenian democracy is widely recognized as the model from which all other forms of democratic rule has evolved from. Through the principles handed down from that Athenian democracy, ancient Greek culture remains a prominent presence in contemporary life, particularly in regard to its democratic policies.

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. In the Ancient World, there was only one truly notable example of a democratic society: The City-State of Athens. This is actually the birthplace of democracy, where instead of the rich or powerful ruling, it was the citizens of the city-state that held the power. This advanced way of government was so effective and well structured, it even laid the foundations for the development of our own democracy, right here in the United States, over 2,000 years in the future. Prior to Athens’s collapse during the Peloponnesian War, it truly had an efficient and very organized system of government.

The had prosperous fields of barley and wheat that they prided themselves on. They were the true earth born in their eyes. Athenians were in their own little world since they were isolated from other states. They had superior skill in making pottery and it was the main merchant trade. They had a large gap between the rich Eupatrids and the poor countryside folk. The Eupatrids started to get to big of ahead and finally realized when they were beat by a village of pig-farmers that they could be defeated. They knew reform was needed and appointed Solon to do the job. He knew he needed to give some power back to the working class. He made them debt free and gave them the right to vote. Although this seemed awesome in the beginning, they quickly realized the stipulations. They would soon be in debt again, and they couldn’t voice their opinion about laws or issues that affected their lives. Athens did well after that, although they never left the aristocracy governing. It was indeed a democracy, but it was only for men to spread their opinion and common people to only vote.

The aristocrat Pericles was responsible in every way for the development of the Athenian democracy. Pericles was one of the rare men who didn’t just accept the world’s conditions, but he tried to shape it to an image in his mind, the image of a perfect, or almost perfect democracy.# He was a high government official in the Athenian democracy during the years 446-429 B.C., which is now called the Periclean Age. He wasn’t the founder or inventor of democracy but he came to its leadership 50 years after it started while it was still growing or developing. Under his rule, Athens developed a direct democracy which allowed many citizens to take part in the day-to-day government affairs. Athenian power and influences increases with this.

democracy is a form of government in which people come together and make laws for the benefit of the country for example, here in the united states people have the right to vote, have equal rights, pursuit of happiness and practice in any religion of your choice. ancient athens did not have a true democracy. In ancient athens Women, free foreigners and slaves were excluded from voting, the government body could decide if you were a citizen or not. Also, women weren't allowed to vote unless they married a citizen. Therefor there constitution did not favor democracy.

their high standards and they were not going to change it. Athenian was most criticized for being

I think that the ancient Athens was a democratic city. The reason that I believe that it’s a

In my opinion Athens Life was not truly democratic for many reasons. For my first source I am going to use document c for evidence on my performance task. I would consider this type of government to be more of an oligarchy with just a few ruling a whole civilization out of 240,000. My first piece of evidence from (Doc C Paragraph Two Line 5), it states “therefore by our modern standards it is more of an oligarchy,” not a democracy.” This evidence supports my answer because it shows that they did invent democracy but it wasn’t truly a democracy because only the free males could rule or

Ancient Athens was built on a democratic government. A democracy is when a government allows all of its people, no matter what class and how wealthy they are, to vote and agree on their own laws. There are many documents and resources that can prove that Ancient Athens was truly built to be a democratic government.

The Ancient Greek conversion to a democratic government started in Athens but took quite a bit of time. The acropolis, in Ancient Greece, was a religious and military center of a city state and a place of refuge for people during emergencies.

One of the most influential Greek city-states was Athens. They used a democratic arrangement of government, and the involvement in democratic operation was restricted to citizens. Social, economic, and political situations impacted art; writing, sciences, and art thrived in fifth century BCE. Athletes, artists, and great thinkers transpired out of ancient Greece. The origination of diverse art formations demonstrated the political and economic

Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.

Perseus Reading Project Greek myths were told to demonstrate beliefs, show models of virtue, or show the consequences of character flaws. “Perseus,” as retold by Edith Hamilton, is a Greek myth written to accept fate. This purpose is seen in the story through the hero Perseus’s journey which consists of the Oracle that told Perseus’s Grandfather’s Fate, Perseus’s pride-motivated journey, and the fall of the Cruel King. The story consists in the Oracle giving the prediction of the King Acrisius.

The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.

Greece’s Golden Age can be defined as a time of flourishing. There are many changes that occurred during this time that changed Athens for the better. Athens made the important decision of splitting itself from Sparta, who they constantly differed with. “It is from this split that the Athenian Empire was created” (Hunt 80). This split illustrates the certainty that the Athenians possessed in terms of creating a better nation. Athens developed an empire because democracy was expensive. In order for democracy to be created, you need an empire to raise money. The Athenian empire was well-known for its excellent trading along with the arts and sciences that developed during this time. When trade flourished, the polis grew which created